Raising the electricity tariff is the only way out of the current situation, energy market experts say
29 May 2024 21:35
ЕКСКЛЮЗИВ
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is planning to raise the electricity tariff for households from 1 June, and it is already known how much it will be, Kommersant Ukrainsky reports 
According to media reports, the tariff for consumption of up to 100 kW per month will remain the same at UAH 2.64 per kWh. Households will have to pay almost twice as much for all the excess volume – 4.8 UAH/kWh.
The tariff has supposedly already been agreed upon and is expected to be approved at tomorrow’s government meeting.
According to Yuriy Korolchuk, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Institute for Energy Strategies, the announced option is not the worst for ordinary consumers.
“As far as I know, they wanted to raise the price for all consumers to UAH 3.5, and for those who consume more, 400-500 kW, they considered a price of UAH 4. But we’ll see how it goes. Let’s wait for official information,”
– the expert said.
Korolchuk believes that such a scenario fits well with the concept of social support for consumers, as the preferential tariff of UAH 2.64/kWh for the first 100 kW is maintained. At the same time, he argues that the current tariff increase is not entirely related to blackouts.
“The increase [in electricity tariffs] is a separate issue. According to estimates, it will bring in an additional UAH 2 billion. Of this, UAH 500 million will be immediately used to pay off the debt – it will be received by Energoatom as the main supplier of electricity to the population. uAH 1 billion will go to all regional power distribution companies – they have been waiting for these funds for a long time,”
– commented Yuriy Korolchuk, adding that we are likely to see further increases in electricity tariffs.
Energy expert Volodymyr Omelchenko agrees that the increase in tariffs is due to the deplorable financial condition of the domestic power generation sector rather than problems caused by Russian shelling. And the preferential tariff for households plays a significant role in this process.
“Electricity prices for households are currently almost 2.5-3 times lower than for industry. And these prices are not set for no reason: the president said it and the prices went down. No, they didn’t. We need to get compensation from somewhere. And the compensation comes mainly from Energoatom and Ukrhydroenergo – UAH 150 billion a year. Can you imagine the figure?”
– omelchenko said.
The expert believes that raising tariffs for households is the only way out of the situation.
“Ukrhydroenergo has lost 50% of its capacity and is in a difficult situation. Energoatom is not in the best condition either: last year it ended with a loss of more than UAH 6 billion, and now it is taking its nuclear units for repairs. They have also lost ZNPP. There are no funds in the budget either, because even the Armed Forces are not enough. Therefore, unfortunately, there is no other way out than to raise prices for the population. Otherwise, energy companies will simply not be able to survive due to a lack of finance,”
– said Omelchenko.
The possibility of raising electricity tariffs was discussed after the largest-scale Russian attack on the Ukrainian energy sector – the Cabinet of Ministers did not rule out the possibility of raising tariffs. However, it was expected that the increase would not be as significant.
It is known that Centrenergo has lost 100% of its generation, and DTEK has damaged 80% of its capacity.
Ukrenergo urges Ukrainians to save electricity during peak hours.
